Although they may not all get together often, Friends cast still has an unbreakable bond.
Lisa Kudrow appeared on Jesse Tyler Ferguson’s Dinner is on me podcast on December 10, where she reminisced about her favorite sitcom. Reflecting on their 25th reunion episode in 2019, Kudrow revealed that it was the first time she and all of her co-stars had gotten together in a decade.
“It was so good,” she said of the reunion. “The six of us have only had dinner once before since the show ended.”
“How soon after the show?” Ferguson asked.
“Ten years!” Kudrow responded, adding that it was “fantastic.”
“It was like we didn’t miss anything,” she said, referring to the main group that includes Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Matt LeBlanc, David Schwimmer and Matthew Perry. “Just us in someone’s house, we had dinner and we didn’t miss a moment.”
(l-r) Matthew Perry as Chandler Bing, Jennifer Aniston as Rachel Green, David Schwimmer as Ross Geller, Courteney Cox as Monica Geller, Matt Le Blanc as Joey Tribbiani, Lisa Kudrow as Phoebe Buffay in ‘Friends’.
NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty
Just four years later, in October 2023, Perry died of an accidental drug overdose. While Kudrow said she talked to Perry about his death before he died, nothing could have prepared the cast for how losing him would feel.
“I have to say it shook us,” Kudrow explained. “I mean, he said, ‘It won’t be a surprise, but it will be a shock.’ And that was right. He’s like, how did he know? That’s not a surprise, but it was a shock.”
She added: “I think, personally, he died happy. I think in the days before he died he was happy and excited about what was going to happen next.”
Lisa Kudrow says Friends Actors ‘Worked a lot’ to become close: ‘That six-way relationship required a little effort’
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The cast of the NBC comedy series “Friends”. Pictured (left to right): David Schwimmer as Ross Geller, Courteney Cox as Monica Geller, Jennifer Aniston as Rachel Cook, Matthew Perry as Chandler Bing, Matt LeBlanc as Joey Tribbiani and Lisa Kudrow as Phoebe Buffay. Episode: “The One Where Everyone Turns Thirty”.
Warner Bros. Television/Getty Images
To ease her grief, Kudrow said she decided to relive their days working together, so she started watching again. Friends.
“God forbid if anyone walked into my house and saw me watching my show, I’d be humiliated,” she joked. “But after Matthew passed away, there were marathons and I wanted to watch them. He felt like a part of memory, mourning, remembrance, all of that, and just enjoyment and celebration. And, boy, I appreciated everything about him.”
“Like, Ben!” she continued. “Schwimmer is funny. Matt LeBlanc makes me laugh out loud. Jennifer, come on! She is so good. Look what she just did, she’s so good. And Courteney, it’s like, oh my god, you’re hilarious. How come you’ve never been nominated for an Emmy? And Matthew, of course. Genius. He blew me away at the time.”
Jennifer Aniston says Matthew Perry ‘wasn’t struggling’ before death: ‘He was happy’
Kudrow then admitted that there are still episodes of the show she’s never seen and that she’s “still figuring out how to get through it.”
“I was at the table reading,” she said. “I don’t know what was changed for other stories. You know, because that’s when everyone’s busy and doing stuff. I had a child, I was married — I was the first. And then I was doing movies, so sometimes I would do them and go back to shoot scenes that I was in. There were episodes I never saw and still haven’t.”
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Friends is available to stream in its entirety on Max.
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Source: HIS Education